Adoption Financing?

**beks37** · 03-22-2010, 03:57 PM

My husband and I have decided to go the adoption route to grow our family. We are doing domestic infant adoption and know it could be in the $20,000-$25,000 range. We have $15,000 in a savings account.

I just wondered how others going through or that have already gone through Adoption handled the financing. Also, was all of the money or proof of the ability to get all the money required up front?

Thanks for any help and advice!

**IntlMom** · 03-22-2010, 04:09 PM

becky - hope you get some good answers. hubby and I had plenty of cash for all of our adoptions.....so I am no help there. But I will say, that during our homestudies, we had to show the account balances with the cash in them at the time.... but that was for international. I will say that KS adoption laws are "easy", so it may be different. (our daughters birth certificate was issued in KS and it was a peice of cake compared to the headaches we endured in the "great state" of CA....) oops, I got a bit off track there, sorry

good luck!!!!

keep us posted!!

**ml2620** · 03-22-2010, 04:14 PM

Beks, no advice, I just wanted to say congratulations. I have a neice and nephew adopted from korea and they are a gift from god to our entire family.

We started classes and paperwork for a domestic adoption through state programs, it is possible to get a healthy newborn that way.

QM · 03-22-2010, 04:34 PM

I, too, am excited for you Becky. Hopefully everything goes smoothly.

**frugalwarrior2** · 03-22-2010, 06:36 PM

Oh Beks, Hope everything goes well for you. I didn't end up adopting but checked into it when the kids were little. Some christian organizations help w/ funding. It's been 12 years so I have no names for you,sorry. God bless and good luck though.

**beks37** · 03-23-2010, 10:28 AM

Thanks for your well wishes. I checked into a home equity loan on our house and that seems to be the best route to go. We can get $10,000 line of credit that we can use if we need it and then we get the tax deduction for the interest. All I have to do is pay for an appraisal and we can close on that within 2 weeks. The interest rate currently is 6.75%, which is the floor right now. It's based on prime plus 1.25% with a floor of 6.75. Seems like a decent deal to me. Better than getting a personal loan with no tax deductible interest or a 401K loan. Hopefully we can get enough money saved up in the next few months to where we don't need it though.

**AnW819** · 03-23-2010, 01:27 PM

I am rooting for ya!!!

**Maine Girl** · 03-27-2010, 04:01 PM

Congratulations!!! How wonderful!!! Please keep us updated on how it goes.

**wanderlusting** · 03-29-2010, 05:00 PM

No advice- but I wish you and your DH all the best in your adoption process.

**Lady_V** · 03-29-2010, 06:38 PM

We went the international route, but we still had to pay for it.

We had some in savings, I worked 3 jobs for a while, banking the private nurse and cashier checks. Family also gifted us some money.

We needed a lot of money (50K+) and it was tight some months... but she's been home almost 9 years now

Don't lose faith or focus... you may also want to see if the companies you work for offer an adoption fund. Some do, some don't.

DON'T take out an "adoption loan"... we originally contacted one and it was for 20K... at 25%... for 25 YEARS !!!

Best of luck in everything... it is one heck of an emotional roller coaster and worth every second!

**TheRootedNomad** · 03-30-2010, 07:59 AM

Have you given "state" adoptions a look. Not only would it not cost you, depending on the infant/child/or sibling group, you could recieve a monthly stipend even after the adoption. (This is generally for special needs children, which sometimes means some pretty severe things and other times only means they are of a specific racial heritage.) Even if there is not additional money, most states give you medical coverage until the child is 18 or out of college and I know in our state if the child goes to a state college it's paid for. Yes, even if you take the baby home straight from the hospital. You may have to wait for a baby and be adament that you aren't intrested in older if that's the case, if it's not there are tons of children out there waiting for homes. I know this isn't the road for everyone but if it's something you haven't looked into it might be worth a peek. People always think infants aren't available through the state agencies but that's not true. They just have people waiting on them.

Also, I'm not sure if it is simply a state adoption thing or if you still qualify if you do a private adoption but there is an adoption tax credit. I believe it's $10,000.00 and can be used over the course of 5 years.

The Adoption Tax Credit

Tax Topics - Topic 607 Adoption Credit

**fizzie** · 04-11-2010, 10:51 PM

We went the state route (costs nothing and you get a monthly stipend) and adopted two healthy newborns. I know this is not the typical case. We were looking into private adoption while we waited for a public one to happen but then it turned out that we didn't have to wait long at all. Our first son arrived and we were the only ones on the waiting list who didn't have a gender preference! Then the second one arrived as a complete surprise--the biological brother of the first. A third one came this year but we decided to let another family have a chance this time. We would've had three under 3! The siblings will have contact though.

Best of luck to you whichever way you decide to go! There are pros and cons to each type of adoption but you will be very happy when you bring your baby home no matter which way you choose.

**gottadance** · 07-11-2010, 11:17 PM

I am on an adoption waiting list and I paid for my first costs via a home equity loan and savings. The final costs will also come from a home equity loan. They are so cheap - I have a $20K line of credit, so I'll be covered.

**Mamaof2rugrats** · 11-10-2010, 10:03 AM

We are currently looking into both domestic and international adoptions. After talking to many case workers in my state, Missouri, we are pretty convinced we will not be able to get a baby via the domestic adoption route so we are now looking into international adoption. It's really not affordable and I'm not sure how we are going to do it. Savings and ??? Loans I guess.